Yesterday the gaming world received the exciting announcement of Battlefield Hardline, a ‘cops and robbers’ themed multiplayer shooter in development at Dead Space creator Visceral Games and due for release in late 2014.

What does the release of Hardline mean for Battlefield 4? What impact will the new Battlefield game have on 2013′s edition?

In a post on the official Battle Blog, head of DICE Karl Magnus Troedsson assured fans that the announcement of Hardline doesn’t mean DICE is ‘done’ with Battlefield 4. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” he wrote, confirming that Visceral is leading the development of Hardline while DICE continues work on Battlefield 4. “We are committed to giving you the best BF4 experience possible,” Troedsson says.

Here are just a few ways that the team of DICE will be improving Battlefield 4 in the future:

- Continued Support: “There are dedicated BF4 teams in Stockholm, Uppsala and LA that will continue to address any issues that might occur. But more importantly will also look to make significant additions to the game.”

- Netcode Patch: “We are also working on a major update to the Battlefield 4 netcode.”

- Community Test Environment: “We launched and are planning to expand our Community Test Environment. You can see the CTE as our labs environment in which we’ll continue testing out new additions, improvements etc. before we go live with them. We’re expanding the CTE program to give more and more players the chance to test new additions.”

- More Features: “Other features rolled out recently such as Squad Join, Rent-A-Server and Loadout Presets, many which have been directly requested by you in the community. This trend will continue.”

Games As Services

The days of developers releasing and forgetting their games have long since passed, and DICE in particular is focussed on making games as services, rather than standalone experiences. Troedsson writes:

“The games we develop are services. We focus on taking care of the games post launch, delivering new content to those of you who want it and always working hard to increase quality of play. We also continue to work hard to keep investing in areas where you tell us you see opportunities for improvements and new features.”

Are you still playing Battlefield 4 and enjoying your time with it? Have you bought any of the add-on packs recently?